| Re: Tomatoes making arthritis worse?
I have arthritis from a variety of causes & discovered that eliminating nightshades from my diet reduced my day to day pain by about 50%, and my flare level pain is equally reduced in intensity. I've been on the diet for over 6 mos. now & intend to continue as the improvement has def. been worth the small sacrifices.
Nightshade family foods are: potato, tomato, eggplant, and peppers of the spicy and bell varieties. Black ground pepper is not a nightshade. In addition to avoiding the whole foods, you must avoid most convenience & prepared foods, which frequently contain paprika or chili or other nightshade peppers in the "spices." Most condiments & salad dressings,commercially prepared, contain nightshades unless verified by the manufacturer as NF (nightshade free).
In the USA, most nonorganic soy has been GMO'd with petunia (a nightshade) genes spliced in, so a true NF diet will use only organic soy. And perhaps the biggest offender, tobacco, is not a food, but nevertheless, it is a strong nightshade. Avoidance of tobacco products, even 2nd hand smoke, is an important part of the NF diet.
Not everyone who has arthritis finds benefit from a trial of NF diet. But there are thousands of converts to this lifelong way of eating, who leave behind a life of pain for one of greater ease & activity.
HTH. Best wishes.
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